A Little Box of Lenny
by Penstorm
Summary: Penny has revealed that she has kept a vast amount of all the items Leonard has given her over the years, since the very beginning. Who wouldn't want to take a peek? Rated T in advance.
1. Prologue

_This idea was conjured up not too long ago, and I have a basic idea of where I want this to go, but I'm really just winging it. I appreciate reviews, faves, encouragement, anything! _

_There will be a chapter on each of the items Penny introduced to Leonard in 7x06,_ The Romance Resonance, _along with some others I dream up. Suggestions are always open. I will try to respond to any reviews I receive._

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**Prologue**

_What's thoughtful is everything you do._

In the seven years that he'd known her, Leonard firmly believed that he had never heard Penny Pincher say truer words, at least not to him. What she confided in Amy and Bernadette was one thing (and he had a feeling that she had on numerous occasions), but this was...big.

Penny was a "tough as nails" type of girl, and much like iron, it took a lot of prying and wearing in order to examine the more vulnerable side she harbored underneath her outer shell. Up until just a short time ago, Leonard wasn't convinced she had such a side of her.

But, evidently, by some sort of miracle, he had managed to break down those walls. Their relationship wasn't perfect—but, really, whose was? They had had their fair amount of arguments, more breakups and falling outs than either of them cared to remember, but they were stronger from it.

Leonard lived every day with the knowledge that he was just one of the many, many men that Penny had acted intimately with over the years. There had been, in fact, times when his stomach had lurched at this fact.

And with that, he had taken note that his girlfriend had never truly had an entirely stable relationship. Why should he, Leonard Leakey Hofstadter, be the one to turn it all around for her? Was he really more than just number...well, he didn't care to think about what place he held in the long line of males that had seen his girlfriend's bits and pieces.

As he rummaged through the disorganized and cluttered space Penny called her closet, Leonard sought only one thing in particular. He only briefly allowed his fingers to flick across an arousing piece of his girlfriend's lingerie before reaching for what he was after.

Leonard could pick up the faint sound of Penny's crooning in the shower, and he allowed himself to relax just a bit. If he was familiar at all with his girlfriend's habits, she would be preoccupied for quite some time yet.

Carefully, he lifted the box from the shelf and swiftly turned on his heels, gingerly placing the box on her bed. Now was his chance. He wasn't entirely certain of how Penny would react to his snooping around through her personal belongings.

Leonard's fingertips danced along the edges of the box, anticipation brewing in him. He had only been allowed to glance over the contents once before, months ago. Normally, he would be much more eager to hop into the shower alongside his girlfriend—to allow his hands to explore her curvaceous form, his eyes following the droplets of water cascading further and further down her skin until...

He shifted his weight in discomfort. Enough of that. Any more fantasizing beyond this point would propel him straight into Penny's embrace. His growing hunger for her was something he was determined not to give into at this point in time.

With a sudden resolve, he sat upon the mattress and perched the box in his lap, ready to become ensconced in memories—some fond ones, some he'd really rather forget. He really had no clue as to _what _he might find in this little trove Penny had taken the liberty of accumulating, but Leonard found a rather intense desire to delve into the "this and that" of their relationship.

"Whatcha lookin' at there?" a voice queried, snapping the physicist from his musings.

"H-huh?" he stammered, instantaneously bringing a hand to his face to nervously adjust his glasses.

"What're you doing?" Penny repeated, toweling off her blonde tendrils of hair.

Leonard felt invisible droplets of water hit his skin.

"I was just, uh...looking?" he offered awkwardly. "I just kinda wanted to see what other stuff is in here...o-out of curiosity."

"Oh. Well..." Penny began, somewhat hesitantly. She wrapped the towel loosely hugging her torso further around her, seemingly unconsciously.

Leonard could easily tell she was unsure of herself, and he therefore removed the box from his lap, pushing it away from him. "I'm sorry. I know this is a complete invasion of privacy. I understand if you don't want me...looking." He swallowed, distracted by the idea that his girlfriend was just one shedding of a towel away from being completely bare before his very eyes.

"No, Leonard." she said, firmly but gently. "We should go through it. You have a right to know what all's in there. It's all you, anyway."

Leonard smiled at Penny's proposal. It _was _all him, wasn't it? He reached for the box again just as Penny allowed the towel to drop to the ground. This action on her part caused him to freeze solid, his hungry eyes wandering up and down her form.

"Do ya like whatcha see?" she ventured with a smirk, quirking a brow. She found it incredibly easy to have this effect on him, and she always found a sick sort of pride in his reaction, no matter how much she adored it.

"Y-yes," Leonard croaked, rendered speechless. He reached for the inhaler he carried in his pocket, but it was nowhere to be found. _Great._

"There's one in the box," Penny mentioned nonchalantly, her jade eyes flickering momentarily over at her personal collection.

As her boyfriend fumbled his hands through the box in search of the apparatus, she quickly slipped into some clothes, soon joining him on the bed after he had made use of the inhaler. Her outfit consisted of a sweatshirt and pajama pants, but Leonard tried not to allow his disappointment to show.

"You kept one of my inhalers?" he asked, fittingly breathless.

"Of course I did." Penny replied, not missing a beat as she scooted back on the bed. "Just like you keep some extra pairs of my panties in your underwear drawer." She smiled coyly, expectantly awaiting her boyfriend's response.

"Yeah, _that's _what I stash them away for." Leonard agreed, receiving a playful swat on the arm from his girlfriend.

He, too, made himself comfortable, feeling his heart pleasantly skip a beat as Penny snuggled against him, hugging her knees to her chest. His heartbeat continued to flutter.

Maybe it was because he was in love, or maybe he was experiencing some cardiac arrhythmia. Either way, he brought the box once more into his lap. Penny smiled, resting a head on his shoulder and grasping the edge of the box.

"Okay."

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_Thoughts on this little introduction, suggestions, anything? PMs are open, as well._

_Thank you for taking the time to read!_


	2. The Thank You Note

_This is pretty self-explanatory. This is a short and sweet one, expect longer in the future.  
_

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**The "Thank You" Note  
**

The first item Leonard's eyes fell upon was an unassuming envelope. Gingerly, he plucked it from the box, turning it over in his hands before lifting the fold of the envelope and removing the letter from inside.

"I don't even remember what all I wrote to you," he confessed, perusing the letter in his scrawled handwriting. Even now, he could discern the emotion in the script. It was fiery, passionate, raw...aroused.

"I remember," Penny added, softly. "I must've read it a hundred times by now."

Leonard turned to face her, incredulous. "Really?"

She nodded, her hand gently brushing past his as she, too, glanced over the letter.

_Dear Penny,_

_Allow me to express my supreme gratitude to you. From the moment that I met you, I was captivated by your grace, but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would one day wake up beside you, gazing dreamily at your sleeping form in my arms._

"Oh, God, this is embarrassing." Leonard groaned, his face flushing over his girlfriend's smirk. "What the hell was I thinking when I was writing this?"

"No, it's great," Penny said gently, urging him to keep reading with an elbowing to the ribs.

With a heavy sigh, he turned his attention back to the letter.

_I cannot thank you enough for allowing this to happen. Whether you took pity on me or you really feel a connection between us, like I do, I really could care less. It happened. It means something to me, and I hope it means something to you, too. If not, I understand, and I'll be willing to wait for you—as long as it takes, Penny._

"I really shouldn't be surprised by anything you say." the blonde chuckled, receiving a puzzled look from Leonard.

"What?"

"I mean, you didn't really know me _that _well when you wrote this." she elaborated, gesturing at the letter.

"Well, no..."

"So you were still this passionate, even back then," Penny added, offering him a smile. "So I really shouldn't be so in shock whenever you try to propose to me in bed."

"I promise that won't happen again." Leonard insisted, his face tinging red.

His girlfriend leaned in, cupping his chin in her hand. "It's okay, sweetie." she murmured, pressing her forehead to his. "Just keep reading," she urged.

Leonard adjusted his glasses, turning his attention from his amorous partner back to the letter.

_Ms. Pincher, if it would be alright with you, I would like to go into an in-depth analysis of our relations last night._

This is where he stopped reading.

"Okay, that's enough of _that," _he said briskly, stuffing the letter back into the envelope.

"No, no!" Penny whined, snatching the envelope from his hands and fondly taking the pages of the letter in her hands.

Her green eyes flicked across the page, and Leonard silently leaned back, covering his face with his hands.

At times, she snorted with laughter. Then a moment later she would simply suppress a soft chuckle. And often during the course of her reading, Penny would emit a soft, barely audible sound, expressing her adoration for the man beside her.

After a long period of silence, she at last gave a sigh, folding the letter back up and returning it to the pocket of the envelope.

"All eleven pages of it," she said fondly, caressing the envelope with an affectionate touch. "I wrote you a letter, too, ya know." she said with a tender smile, her grin widening as she fully captured Leonard's attention.

"You did? Do you still have it?" he asked, his voice rising hopefully.

Her smile grew sad, and she shook her head. "No. I...I couldn't figure out what I really wanted to say to you. I got frustrated, so I just eventually crumpled it up and threw it out."

"Ah." Leonard murmured, delicately taking the letter and placing it in its rightful place in the box.

He really wished he had seen, or at least known, what she wrote. She was so hard to read herself, sometimes he couldn't truly surmise what was going on in her mind. Writing of hers could be a great help.

Lovingly, Penny took his left hand in her right. Their eyes met, enamored gazes complementing each other.

"If you _did _read it, it probably wouldn't tell you anything you don't already know."

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_For obvious reasons, I couldn't include all eleven pages of the letter..._


End file.
